The East Asian Observatory (EAO) is pleased to announce the regular call for proposals for Semester 27A at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Please submit your proposals via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details and submission instructions, please visit: https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/jcmt/semester/31/regular The deadline for 27A Principal… Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory (EAO) is pleased to announce the regular call for proposals for Semester 26B at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Please submit your proposals via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details and submission instructions, please visit: https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/jcmt/semester/30/regular The deadline for 26B… Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory (EAO) announces a supplemental rolling call for proposals for Semester 26A at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). This call invites proposals for targets with right ascension (R.A.) between 06 h and 15 h; observations outside this range will not be scheduled. A total of 500… Continue reading
We are pleased to announce that the East Asian Observatory is now accepting proposals for the Principal Investigator (PI) queue for Semester 2026A at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see: https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/jcmt/semester/28/regular… Continue reading
Some reductions of SCUBA-2 data exhibit arc-like structures, most often in “blank field” observations taken in good weather and at high elevation. An example reduction of a group of observations exhibiting this issue can be seen below, along with an alternative reduction where it has been suppressed by altering the… Continue reading
We are pleased to announce that JCMT Users meeting will be held from July 1st to July 4th, 2025, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The meeting will consist of both talks (invited and contribution) and posters on the current progress and updates on JCMT sciences and instrumentation. We also plan to arrange hands-on tutorial sessions and lectures for JCMT observations… Continue reading
Call for Proposals for Semester 2026A We are pleased to announce that the East Asian Observatory is now accepting proposals for the Principal Investigator (PI) queue for Semester 2026A at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and… Continue reading
Call for Proposals – for Semester 25A The East Asian Observatory is now accepting proposals for the Principal Investigator (PI) queue for Semester 25A at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see… Continue reading
Utilizing the SCUBA-2 camera mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii, an international team led by graduate student Qi-Ning Hsu and Dr. Chian-Chou Chen from the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) has successfully resolved the cosmic infrared background (CIB) at 450 μm and confirmed its… Continue reading
We are happy to make the first announcement of the JCMT Users Meeting 2024. The next JCMT science/users meeting will be held from 10th May to 13th June 2023 at the Pusat Sains Negara (National Science Centre), Kuala Lumpur. You can find more details here. Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 24B at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see: https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 24B Call for Proposals closes on the 17th of March, 2024 (2024-03-17… Continue reading
To promote East Asian regional astronomy research cooperation, the East Asian Core Observatory Association (EACOA) and The East Asian Observatory (EAO) jointly encourage and support highly qualified young researchers from all over the world to join and conduct joint research activities with colleagues at the EACOA member institutes which are… Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 24A at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see: https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 24A Call for Proposals closes on the 9th of September, 2023 (2023-09-10… Continue reading
The observatory wishes to thank all those involved in the 2023 JCMT Users Meeting held at the University College London, UK. This was the first meeting held in person since the COVID pandemic and was wonderful to see some of our JCMT community in person. Further deals on the meeting… Continue reading
Molokai student Mallory Go has co-authored a paper published in The Astronomical Journal under the title “Magnetic Fields in the Horsehead Nebula using data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. Go (who graduated in 2021) was awarded time under the Maunakea Scholars program – a program that gives students at… Continue reading
The 19th annual Journey Through the Universe (JTTU) program was held February 27th – March 3rd, 2023 on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. Throughout the week, astronomy educators visited K-12 classrooms in the Hilo-Waiakea complex area to promote science education and inspire students to explore STEM fields. Coordinated by the… Continue reading
On February 22nd, 2023 – Telescope System and Outreach Program Specialist, Callie Matulonis, got to share her enthusiasm and knowledge with over 75 students, teachers, and their family members at the Ha’aheo Elementary School’s Family STEAM night. Accompanied by former JCMT Extended Operator, Cameron Wipper, who is now an Astronomy… Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 23B at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see: https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 23B Call for Proposals closes on the 16th of March, 2023 (2023-03-16… Continue reading
Maunakea Hawaiʻi – JCMT astronomers studying a stellar nursery in the Taurus constellation have discovered a young dense cloud core that is in the early stages of star formation. Using observations from the JCMT and combining them with special (MHD, Magnetohydrodynamic) numerical simulations, the team was able to obtain a… Continue reading
We are happy to make the first announcement of the JCMT users meeting 2023. The next JCMT science/users meeting will be held from 30th May to 1st June 2023 at University College London. You can find more details here. Continue reading
The JCMT invites astronomers from South Korea to propose for time in 23A under the South Korean supplemental call for proposals. More details can be found in the JCMT Hedwig proposal system. The supplemental call will cover the 23A semester running from February 1st to July 31st 2023. The call… Continue reading
On November 23rd (HST) the JCMT participated in Frequency Phase Transfer (FPT) testing with the SMA, KVN Yonsei, GLT and IRAM 30m. During high frequency Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations the atmosphere can heavily impact the phases of radio signals and reduce the coherence time (leading to degradation in data… Continue reading
The 2022 Maunakea Wonders Teacher Workshop took place on October 28th and November 4th adding success to a collaboration with the University of Hawaiʻi that has reached more than 100 participants since it began in 2017. On October 28th, guest speakers Callie Matulonis (EAO/JCMT), Leinani Lozi (TMT), and Yuko Kakazu… Continue reading
G34.3 is an Ultracompact HII region that has an associated molecular cloud. This was the target for the JCMT’s first light image taken with the Nāmakanui* insert `Ala`ihi. `Ala`ihi is unique at the JCMT in that is is a new frequency range for JCMT, operating between 77.0–88.5GHz. `Ala`ihi’s primary function at… Continue reading
23A Call is now closed The East Asian Observatory is pleased to invite PI observing proposals for semester 23A (open: September 12th 2022) at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 22B Call for Proposals… Continue reading
The EAO is pleased to have our Extended Observing program back in full swing thanks to the recruitment of two new Extended Operators, both recent graduates in Astronomy from the University of Hawai`i, Hilo. Extended Observing is when trained staff proceed with observations after the formal night shift ends. This enables… Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory (EAO) operates the University of Hawaiʻi’s James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Maunakea, a unique privilege that has contributed to scientific advancements that change our understanding of the universe around us. From collaborating with local experts on the first image of black hole Pōwehi, to our broad… Continue reading
Maunakea Hawaii – JCMT astronomers studying stellar nurseries, the birthplace of stars in our galaxy, have found that nearly half of stars in the Galaxy are formed in binary/multiple stellar systems (think twins, triplets, quadruplets). Despite the prevalence of binary/multiple births previous studies of stellar nurseries have concentrated more on… Continue reading
EAO/JCMT staff are deeply saddened by the loss of Professor Richard Hills (1945-2022). Professor Richard Hills of the University of Cambridge was a leading radio astronomer and instrumentalist in the era of millimeter wave and submillimeter wave astronomy. He was the original project scientist for the JCMT and ensured the successful… Continue reading
It is with a heavy heart that we learned of the passing of JCMT astronomer Professor Yu Gao (September 29, 1963 – May 21, 2022). Professor Yu Gao of Xiamen University was a radio astronomer working in the field of extragalactic molecular cloud physics. He has been an original proponent of the acquisition… Continue reading
MAUNAKEA, HAWAIʻI –– Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside… Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 22B at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 22B Call for Proposals closes on April 1st 2022. Eligibility requirements for… Continue reading
The JCMT is excited to announce a virtual Users Meeting. All the information about the JCMT’s 2022 virtual users meeting (held February 24-25 in UT) can be found here. Sign up for the meeting is handled here. The meeting will be held fully remotely via Zoom. The main purpose of the meeting… Continue reading
On the first of February 2022 the JCMT will allow into the JCMT queue a number of new Large Programs. Astronomers from EAO regions or partner institutions are welcome to join new programs under the Open Enrollment process as well as astronomers from Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia as these regions… Continue reading
On July 1st, 2021 the two-component SCUBA-2 beam profile parameters were updated in accordance with the results published by Mairs et al 2021. This caused a change in the Matched Filter post-processing. When using a Stardev installation post-July 1st, 2021, executing the matched-filter method is expected to increase the measured… Continue reading
On July 1st, 2021 the two-component SCUBA-2 beam profile parameters were updated in accordance with the results published by Mairs et al 2021. This caused a change in the Matched Filter post-processing. When using a Stardev installation post-July 1st, 2021, executing the matched-filter method is expected to increase the measured… Continue reading
We are pleased to announce the publication of a new, comprehensive guideline to calibrating SCUBA–2 data obtained from 2011 to the present day: The Astronomical Journal arXiv This work updates the opacity relations used to correct for atmospheric attenuation, summarizes significant changes in flux conversion factor (FCF) values by date… Continue reading
JCMT Call for Semester 22A PI Programs The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for Semester 22A at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 22A Call for PI Proposals… Continue reading
It is the observatory’s pleasure to welcome EAO Fellow Dr. Junhao Liu to the EAO/JCMT observatory team. Junhao obtained his BSc in 2015 and PhD in 2021 from Nanjing University, and was enrolled in a long-term predoctoral fellowship program at CfA from 2018 through 2021. His research is focused… Continue reading
A bug was introduced into the cmult and cdiv commands in the Starlink KAPPA package on 21st May 2021. This bug caused incorrect Variance values to be stored in the output and was fixed on 12th July 2021. Consequently, anyone who uses these commands and who last rsynced the nightly… Continue reading
“Magnetic Fields and the Structure of the Filamentary Interstellar Medium”, a JCMT and SOFIA Joint Virtual Scientific Workshop During the period of 22nd – 25th of June, 2021, a virtual workshop on “Magnetic Fields and the Structure of the Filamentary Interstellar Medium” was held online. This workshop brought together… Continue reading
A recent change in the Starlink KAPPA package causes the SMURF pol2map command to crash . The main symptom is a message at the end of the pol2map logfile that looks something like this: + -50 . could not convert string to float: ‘+ -50’ The change that causes this… Continue reading
Dr. Alex Tetarenko, a Hilo-based astronomer who works at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), has been selected as a new Fellow by NASA for its prestigious NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP). Dr. Tetarenko was one of 24 NHFP Fellows to be selected out of more than 400 applicants. The… Continue reading
Interstellar filaments are ubiquitous in molecular clouds, and they are a key intermediate stage toward the formation of stars. Previous observations found that many stars commonly form within clustered environments associated with hub–filament systems (HFSs), where they are formed in a dense hub with numerous radial filaments extending from the… Continue reading
Two Hawai`i-based telescopes, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), operated by the East Asian Observatory, and the Submillimeter Array (SMA), operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, have once again combined efforts with the global network of telescopes known as the Event… Continue reading
Stars are known to form in so-called “molecular clouds”; collections of cold gas and dust in the space between stars. These stellar nurseries can contain a number of dense clumps of gas and dust called “prestellar cores”. Research has suggested that these cores are expected to exhibit concentrated structures within… Continue reading
Dr. Alex Tetarenko, a Hilo based astronomer who works at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), has been collaborating with an international team of researchers to analyze new observations of the first black hole ever detected. Their discovery is leading astronomers to question what they know about the Universe’s most… Continue reading
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS HAS NOW CLOSED. The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 21B at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 21B… Continue reading
From our JCMT `Ohana (family) to yours, we wish you a very happy and safe Lunar New Year filled with clear skies and great data. Artwork by Jung Shan Chang Continue reading
IRC+10216, also known as CW Leonis – a carbon star embedded in a thick dust envelope, was the target for first light observations with the second Nāmakanui insert; `Āweoweo. This spectrum was captured on the night of January 13 2021 (UT 20200114). `Āweoweo operates between 283 – 365 GHz and… Continue reading
On 20201202 we updated our ACSIS software. In the past all receptors would be written our to raw files on a per-observation basis. For the Nāmakanui insert `Ū`ū this meant that for each observation a minimum of two files would be produced, one for LSB and one for USB, each… Continue reading
Happy Holidays from the EAO ʻOhana! Enjoy this special time and when you get a chance to cozy up in your favorite reading nook – have a look through our 2020 EAO Newsletter – fresh off the presses. You can find the latest EAO Newsletter and all of our past… Continue reading
JCMT astronomers were excited to capture the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter on December 21st 2020 using SCUBA-2. The conjunction – although occurring every 20 years the closest one prior to 2020 was in 1623 and this won’t be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of March 15, 2080. Telescope… Continue reading
Due to an exceptional combination of contributing factors this year, the JCMT TAC Meeting for Semester 21A is now expected to take place on January 20th – 22nd, 2021. As this is much closer to the start of the new semester than usual, JCMT users that have submitted proposals targeting… Continue reading
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS HAS NOW CLOSED. The East Asian Observatory is pleased to invite JCMT observing proposals with Principal Investigators (PIs) affiliated with Canadian institutions only for a special 21A Supplementary Call for Proposals. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For… Continue reading
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS HAS NOW CLOSED. The East Asian Observatory invites JCMT observing proposals with Principal Investigators (PIs) affiliated with a South Korean institution only for a special 21A Supplementary Call for Proposals. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full… Continue reading
MAUNAKEA, HAWAIʻI – New analysis of data taken between 2009-2013, some of them not published before, by the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the Submillimeter Array (SMA) for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration have revealed the how the black hole Pōwehi is moving over decadal timescales. The analysis… Continue reading
An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, UK, today announced the discovery of a rare molecule – phosphine – in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this gas is only made industrially, or by microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments. The detection of phosphine… Continue reading
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS HAS NOW CLOSED. The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 21A at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 21A Call… Continue reading
The JCMT SCOPE Survey has provided astronomers studying the formation of stars a treasure map for follow up observations by the Nobeyama 45-m radio telescope and ALMA to reveal the treasures within. Two such treasures include an image of a multiple star system on the cusp of formation alongside a… Continue reading
New data obtained using the Hawai`i-based James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) revealed that the surface of Betelgeuse (commonly known as Orion’s shoulder), recently developed significant “Starspots” which caused an unprecedented dimming of the star. This result contrasts the previously accepted explanation that the reduction in brightness was due to a… Continue reading
If the MAPVAR=YES option is used when running the SMURF pol2map script, the I, Q and U error estimates in the resulting vector catalogue will be based on the spread of pixel values at each point on the sky in the I, Q and U maps made from individual observations.… Continue reading
The JCMT software team has been working hard to create a way for projects to be accessed by individual user log in rather than project wide shared log in/passwords. Going forward, to access programs in the OMP and JCMTOT you will need to log in via your Hedwig account. PIs… Continue reading
JCMT Telescope System Specialist Mimi Fuchs is on the front page of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald today showcasing her appearance in an episode of “Mission Unstoppable” on CBS. As well as being an operator at the JCMT Mimi is an IF/THEN Ambassador for the AAAS – The American Association for the… Continue reading
After two months of hiatus in operations, we are pleased to announce that EAO will begin preparatory work to bring JCMT to on-sky operations. This decision comes after Hawaiʻi Governor David Ige identified the Observatories as part of the state’s list of low-risk organizations and businesses that are safe to… Continue reading
On Saturday, March 7th, 2020, the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo, Hawai’i hosted 70 visitors for a special overnight event. As part of the “Stellar Night at the Museum”, the Cub Scouts and their family members were treated to a unique visit at the East Asian Observatory base facility. … Continue reading
The pol2map command used to create I, Q, U maps and vector catalogues from POL2 data now adds a column called “AST” to the output catalogue. This new column holds an integer for each row, indicating if the row is inside (1) or outside (0) the AST mask. It uses… Continue reading
The new poledit command in the Starlink POLPACK package (see a previous blog post) has an option to recalculate the PI (polarised intensity) and P (percentage polarisation) values using a specified form of de-biasing. If the existing catalogue is in file “mycat.FIT“, you can do: % polpack % poledit mycat… Continue reading
A new command called poledit has been added to the Starlink POLPACK package and will be available in Starlink builds made after 10:00 UTC on 15th April 2020. It allows a vector catalogue to be changed in several different ways, as specified by the MODE parameter (new forms of edit will… Continue reading
First Event Horizon Telescope Observations of a Black-Hole Powered Jet announced as Maunakea Observatories offer MKO@Home online resources Two Hawai’i-based telescopes, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), operated by the East Asian Observatory, and the Submillimeter Array (SMA), operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute for… Continue reading
This article appeared in the University of Hawai’i News on April 6th In response to the interruption of hands-on science education and outreach during the COVID-19 crisis, the Maunakea Observatories (MKO) have unveiled a distance learning program, MKO@Home online. The virtual project consists of short weekly videos that feature astronomy… Continue reading
As of SMURF version 1.7.0, the default Instrumental Polarisation (IP) model used by the pol2map command has changed from “JAN2018” to “AUG2019”. Thus, if you do not assign a value to the “ipmodel” configuration parameter when running pol2map, the AUG2019 model will now be used rather than the JAN2018 model.… Continue reading
Calculation of the polarised intensity (PI) and percentage polarisation (P) values from measurements of I, Q and U usually need to be corrected to take account of the bias towards larger values caused by the presence of noise (particularly noticeable in areas of low signal-to-noise). This bias occurs because of… Continue reading
A new command called pol2noise has been added to the Starlink SMURF package. It allows the error values stored in a POL2 vector catalogue to be checked for consistency. For instance, to check the errors on the Q column, do: % smurf % pol2noise mycat.FIT Q replacing myfit.FIT with the… Continue reading
A change has been made recently to the contents of vector catalogues created using the pol2map command in the Starlink SMURF package. Previously, sky positions that have a negative total intensity (I) value were excluded completely from the catalogue (such positions occur frequently in background regions because of noise). Now,… Continue reading
Once again, staff at the East Asian Observatory, send our thoughts out to our community across the world and hope you and your families are well and safe. The Governor of Hawaii has announced a ‘stay-at-home’ order for the entire State, effective from Wednesday 25th of March, through to April… Continue reading
Due to the significant logistical impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on many members of the JCMT user community, the exceptional decision has been made that the semester 20B PI proposal submission deadline will be extended by two weeks, until 2020-03-31 01:00 (UTC). Any PIs that have already submitted projects… Continue reading
On behalf of all of us here at East Asian Observatory, we hope you – our EAO/JCMT community – and your families are well and safe around the world, as we all face the challenges of the coronavirus in our regions and communities. Here at EAO headquarters in Hawaii,… Continue reading
Maunakea astronomer, Dr. Alexandra Tetarenko, who works at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, has been collaborating with a research group led by Oxford’s Department of Physics which has observed a black hole ejecting material at close to the speed of light, out to some of the largest separations ever seen.… Continue reading
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS HAS NOW CLOSED. The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 20B at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 20B Call… Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory invites JCMT observing proposals with Principal Investigators (PIs) affiliated with a South Korean institution only for a special 20X Supplementary Call for Proposals. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see here. The proposal submission deadline… Continue reading
From our JCMT `Ohana (family) to yours, we wish you a very happy Lunar New Year filled with clear skies and great data. Continue reading
On the first of February 2020 the JCMT will allow into the JCMT queue a number of new Large Programs (alongside extension requests of existing programs). If you are interested in joining one of the new programs or programs that were approved for an extension please visit the Large Programs… Continue reading
A new parameter called SMOOTH450 has been added to the pol2map script (used for processing POL2 data). It is only accessed when processing 450 um data and defaults to False, which results in no changes to the behaviour of pol2map. If SMOOTH450 is set to True, pol2map performs an additional… Continue reading
The JCMT had a successful fringe test yesterday with the SMA using the new instrument Nāmakanui; on loan at JCMT from ASIAA. The JCMT got fringes without problems which is really excellent news. This is good progress with an East Asian VLBI and Event Horizon Telescope run schedules in 2020.… Continue reading
The Event Horizon Telescope Consortium met in Hawai`i for the first time since the release of the first image of a Black Hole Pōwehi. The meeting took place at the Hilo Naniloa Hotel during the week of December 5th. In addition to the meeting a public talk by Dr. Ziri… Continue reading
Data files created at the JCMT are usually distributed in the Starlink NDF format (see “Learning from 25 years of the extensible N-Dimensional Data Format“). An NDF usually contains several arrays, each with a well defined purpose (data values, variances, quality flags, etc). However, each such array has in the past… Continue reading
October 30th, 2019 kicked off the fourth “Maunakea Wonders Teacher Workshop” in collaboration with the University of Hawaii Hilo Masters of Arts in Teaching program. The “Maunakea Wonders Teacher Workshop” program gives participants a background on the existing Maunakea Observatories, the scientific discoveries being made, the engineering/instrumentation capabilities, the jobs… Continue reading
The 2019 JCMT Users Meeting is underway at ASIAA in Taiwan. If you wish to watch the talks remotely please visit the program pages. This link will also provide the pdfs of the talk being given, and pdfs of the poster presentations. EAO staff members Mark Rawlings, Sarah Graves and… Continue reading
JCMT has began a new era. Starting November 1st all data obtained at the JCMT will be observed remotely from Hilo. The first night of Remote Observing was staffed by JCMT Telescope Operator Mimi Fuchs. JCMT astronomers who obtain data on a given night will now receive an automated email… Continue reading
A potentially serious bug has recently been found and fixed in the POL2MAP command. Summary: If you run POL2MAP three times to produce a vector catalogue – once to create the auto-masked I map (step 1), once to create the externally-masked I map (step 2) and once to create the… Continue reading
Congratulations to both ASIAA and JCMT staff! We achieved first light with our receiver `Ū`ū on Friday, October 4th, 2019. `Ū`ū is part of the Nāmakanui instrument and works at wavelengths around 1.2mm. Our first observation was taken of CRL2688, a bright sub-mm source between a red giant and planetary… Continue reading
JCMT Rapid Turnaround Proposal Submission Call Opens on October 1st, 2019 The East Asian Observatory is pleased to invite proposals requesting Rapid Turnaround (RT) time at the JCMT. All prospective PIs should review the JCMT eligibility requirements page prior to the preparation and submission of a proposal. A new RT… Continue reading
The East Asian Observatory publishes a periodical – The East Asian Observatory News. The latest issue can be found here: September 2019 • #5 Previous copies of the East Asian Observatory News can be found here: http://www.eaobservatory.org/jcmt/public/newsletter/ -20190925 Continue reading
On Thursday, September 5th, 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration was announced the winner of the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The $3 million prize, also known as the “Oscars of Science”, will be shared equally with 347 scientists co-authoring any of the six papers published by EHT. JCMT… Continue reading
JCMT Call for Semester 20A PI Programs The East Asian Observatory is happy to invite PI observing proposals for semester 20A at the JCMT. Proposal submission is via the JCMT proposal handling system, Hedwig. For full details, and for proposal submission, please see https://proposals.eaobservatory.org/ The 20A Call for PI Proposals… Continue reading
Dear JCMT Community, We are pleased to announce that we have resumed night time operations at the JCMT. Our first night on sky way Sunday August 11th where we did a functional check out of our systems, took some engineering observations, followed by observations for the Large Program Queue. Our… Continue reading
Summary: New IP models are now available when reducing POL2 data. At 450 um the new model is a distinct improvement over the previous model. At 850 um the new and old models show little difference. To use the new models, it is necessary to add ipmodel=AUG2019 to the configuration when… Continue reading
Nāmakanui (pronounced “Naaah-mah-kah-noo-ee”), our newest addition to the JCMT instrumentation suite, arrived in Hilo last week and is now out of the box and being tested in Hilo by staff. The Hawaiian name “Nāmakanui” means “Big-Eyes” and it refers to a type of fish found in and around the islands.… Continue reading
Dear JCMT Community, This week, the pending start of the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope has sparked a protest which has blocked access to Maunakea for all traffic. Yesterday afternoon, the directors of the existing observatories made the joint decision to remove all personnel from their telescope facilities at… Continue reading
